Sports
Girls Track Excels at Nationals
Led by Emma Gallagher the Garden City girls track team completed a successful run throughout the indoor season.
The girls track team completed another very successful indoor season at the New Balance Indoor Nationals at the Manhattan Armory for Coach Erica Fregosi and assistant Tom Skrivanek.
Led by the phenomenal season of sophomore Emma Gallagher, the Lady Trojans won a Nassau County Championship, two NY State championships and hit the podium at the New Balance Indoor National Championship Meet.
At the Indoor Nationals the Garden City girls took to the track in several individual events as well as in the relays. Starting on Friday night with Stephanie Gerland running a 5,000 meter race the girls were all looking to better their previous marks. Although Gerland finished seventh in her heat she was by far the youngest competitor in the distance event and managed to run to a personal best time by a little more than 30 seconds.
On Saturday, the highlight of the night was the evening performance of the 4x800 relay team of Katie and Emily O’Neill, Jennifer Gerland and anchor Emma Gallagher. The girls went into the race as one of the top favorites and emerged with a silver medal as the Davis Track Club from Utah ran to a US #2 All Time to win the event. Garden City finished in a fantastic 9:01.80 with Gallagher running a 2:10.93 to claim the second best time in the nation for 2013 in the 4x800 relay. The four girls garner High School All American status to go along with their silver medal. Earlier in the day on Saturday, Laura Jaeger ran a 58.15 in a preliminary 400 meter sprint heat.
The girls returned on Sunday morning for the 4x400 relay team's run. The quartet of Emily Cafaro, Kelly Lawkins, Laura Jaeger and Kelly Punturo was running against the best competition from across the nation and the girls produced a solid time of 4:06.86.
As the meet came to an end on Sunday, the last of the Garden City girls stepped up to the start line and it was Gallagher running the open 800 meter race in the top seeded section. Gallagher went into the race as one of the top five girls with a shot at the national title but quickly saw that this was going to be a special race. Gallagher set a new school record with her 2:10.66 and she finished in sixth place to earn a spot on the medal stand and All American status. The race was special in that Sabrina Southerland of Benjamin Cardozo blazed to a US all-time #2 of 2:03.59.
Earlier in the month the girls had a successful run at the New York State meet with Emma Gallagher claiming two State titles – one as an individual for winning her second consecutive 600 meter championship and the second for anchoring her teammates to the 4x400 victory. The foursome of Laura Jaeger, Katie O’Neill and Kelly Lawkins, along with Gallagher, produced a 3:54.95 to take their second State title in a row. O’Neill also ran a strong individual 600 meter race as she finished with the bronze medal for her third place run in 1:35.10.
The Garden City girls will now look forward to the Spring outdoor season and a run at an eighth consecutive County title. And with runners like Gallagher, Jaeger, Lawkins and the Gerland’s the Lady Trojan’s will be the team to beat on the outdoor track.
